Monday, January 10, 2011

Charma, pictured below, was a very minor character who, in what I read, clashed with the Legion, but, given that she was drawn by Mike Grell and, consequently, wore a very skimpy outfit - fans of The Warlord (And I ask again: why hasn't anyone made a Warlord movie?) would recognize her outfit as being very similar to that worn by Mariah - she managed to stand out in my memory.

Charma was a mutant with a hypnotic ability that allowed her to bend men to her will, making any man she encountered her adoring slave, an ability that allowed her to exert control over even the most powerful membors of the Legion.The most powerful male Legionnaires, at any rate.She partnered with a man named Grimbor the Chainsman, an expert in creating inescapable traps and shackles, and, exerting her control over the boys in the Legion, the two of them were able to subdue and imprison the distaff members of the team.This was important, as Charma's hypnotic power had a flip side. Whereas any man she encountered would fall instantly and hopelessly in love with her, her power had rather the opposite effect on women. Any woman exposed to Charma hated her with the same level of passion with which men loved her, and they would express that hatred violently and mercilessly.Though all of the members of the Legion were in chains - either literally, in the case of the girls, or figuratively in the case of the boys - one Legionnaire had managed to escape detection: Shrinking Violet. Violet beat the tar out of Charma. Once they were free from Charma's hold on them, the boys soundly defeated Grimbor (nearly killing Violet in the process as they rushed to stop her from pounding the hell out of the obect of their affection).The question of how to go about restraining Charma was resolved by her partner, Grimbor, who loved her desperately - and selfishly - and had used his expertise to create shackles that nullified her power with an eye toward eventually imprisoning her and keeping her all to himself. The Legion found the shackles and sent Charma off to prison. A women's prison, where she was eventually beaten to death by the other inmates.She apparently resurfaced in the post-Zero Hour continuity, but I haven't read those stories.For the curious among you, once again I did the line work freehand in Manga Studio, then brought it into Photoshop to retouch and color it.